Coordination hole drilling is a method where parts are located into assemblies using precision holes predrilled in each part. Typically, these holes are a small subset of the total number of holes, are undersized holes for coordinating purposes, and are subsequently drilled to full size after the part is at least partially fastened. Expensive and inflexible tooling may be avoided utilizing this process. However, coordination hole drilling can be expensive and difficult to achieve on long parts, and also on contoured parts where the contours do not match. Mismatch between holes of the parts being joined may be caused by several factors including; machining errors, fixturing errors when the part is machined, temperature of fabrication and differential temperature growth of parts to be joined, riveting, contour mismatch, and hole angularity, especially on thick parts. Long parts are sensitive to differential temperature growth where the assembly temperature may affect the hole to hole fit-up. A typical use of coordination holes to locate one flexible part to another requires that the holes pin up precisely. However, as the parts become longer the location of the holes along the length typically become less certain and this mismatch in holes also reduces the accuracy of locating the parts relative to desired datums. The difficulty of aligning and pinning these holes is also increased due to this mismatch. Slotting one or more of the parts being assembled may allow for hole mismatch while keeping the datums of the parts under control. However, slotting the parts being assembled is time consuming, difficult to install, expensive, and difficult to size up at assembly. Typically, the final holes need to be round to accept standard fasteners and reduce stress concentrations.
Coordination hole apparatus and methods of use are needed which may allow parts to be assembled, while maintaining a datum of one or more of the parts, even when holes are mismatched along the lengths of the parts.